DAILY SCOPE: No President in Coming Session, Blackwater Mercenaries Killed in Yemen
Local Editor
NEWSPAPER HEADLINES:
AS-SAFIR:
Franjieh to As-Safir: Nasrallah is Fair with Us; I will not Cancel Myself
10 Thousand Children Refugees Disappear in Europe
AN-NAHAR:
Salam to An-Nahar: Heavy Movements Revive Presidential Dossier, Return to Square One...For Consensual President
Washington Investigates Arrest of Two Americans in Saudi Arabia Accused of Terrorism
AL-AKHBAR:
Proximity with "Israel" and Netanyahu in Cairo Soon
Hariri Incites Riyadh against Geagea
AL-BINAA:
Geneva: Jaafari Prioritizes Classifying Terrorism; Riyadh Adapts with Remaining of al-Assad
Lebanese newspapers on Monday shed light on the domestic arena, touching on the ongoing impact of the Hizbullah Secretary General's speech on the presidential file. The papers noted that the speech delivered by Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah had a positive impact on the internal arena. The dailies also tackled the developments taking place on the regional level.
AS-SAFIR -Franjieh: Sayyed Nasrallah's Speech Had Positive Vibes, I will Not Cancel Myself
Head of the Marada party MP Suleiman Franjieh told As-Safir newspaper that he was truly touched by the speech of Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, assuring that "the stances of Sayyed Nasrallah have left a positive atmosphere among us especially after the accusations and fingers pointed towards us by some March 8 political and media sources."
Franjieh underscored that Sayyed Nasrallah responded on the Marada party's behalf to all the accusations; which claimed that the party made concessions by starting dialogue with MP Saad Hariri. He also stressed that the Hizbullah leader reiterated "the resistance party does not pressure its allies, and that the two sides share a relationship based on mutual trust and understanding.
"Franjieh is an old ally and a dear friend," Sayyed Nasrallah stressed in his speech on Friday.
"We told Franjieh that we are committed to back Aoun for presidency, but we will discuss the issue of his nomination (by Hariri)."
Sayyed Nasrallah also noted that Hizbullah had no problem with the Franjieh-Hariri meeting.
"Hizbullah trusts its allies. When an ally holds dialogue with our rival we have no problem. We welcome any meeting that includes Lebanese factions."
In addition, Franjieh assured to As-Safir that he will not withdraw from the presidential race, stressing "I cannot cancel myself if Aoun does not win the race...the General [Michel Aoun] should convince the others, especially [Head of the Future party] Saad Hariri to accept his candidacy; only then I will not impede him from reaching office."
AN-NAHAR-Salam: No Lebanese President on February 8
Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam told An-Nahar newspaper on Monday that the Baabda office will remain empty, since no president will likely be elected during the session to be held on February 8.
Salam, who stressed that the crisis is ongoing, underscored "Things have to go back to square one."
The top official pointed out that during this difficult stage, only a compromise candidate would be able to rule the country.
On another governmental note, Salam said that he is trying to distance the government from the differences among the different factions in the country.
Yet, he criticized how all measures that should be put into practice to manage people's affairs are being subject to a division of shares among the political parties.
Lebanon has been without a president since May 2014 when the term of Michel Suleiman ended without the election of a successor. The latest presidential initiative proposed by Saad Hariri, leader of the Future Movement, contemplated the selection of Marada Movement chief Suleiman Franjieh.
Following Hariri's initiative, head of the Lebanese Forces MP Samir Geagea announced his decision to nominate head of the Free Patriotic Movement MP Michel Aoun for the presidential election that has been delayed for around 20 months due to the lack of the political consensus among the various factions.
Since the presidential vacancy, House Speaker Nabih Berri has called for about 30 sessions that have been adjourned over lack of quorum.
AL-AKHBAR-Blackwater Mercenaries Killed in Yemen
Following consecutive days of vicious Saudi attacks on the different Yemeni cities, the Yemeni army and the popular committees launched new attacks on Saturday, using "Tochka" Ballistic missiles. Concentrated attacks took place on Lahij province in Northern Yemen.
Security sources told al-Akhbar newspaper that more than 200 extremist fighters were killed in these attacks, among which at least 30 are Blackwater mercenaries, 36 pilots hired from Europe, the US and Britain, around 65 Sudanese fighters in addition to 33 special forces' fighters from Eritrea.
The security source told the Lebanese daily that the operation is considered as an intelligence success before being counted as a military achievement, since the Yemeni army and its allies were able to monitor the heavy movement of the terrorist groups and mercenaries, who were preparing to launch attacks against Ta'ez from different fronts.
Blackwater has had to change its name several times due to its notoriety around the world. The company, which went by the alias Xe Services before its current name, is one of the most notorious private security firms in the world for killing scores of civilians in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Yemen.
Source: al-Ahed news
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